Safe and Sound
by StellarSlayer
Summary: "Just close your eyes, Luce. The sun is going down. You'll be alright. I'm here. No one can hurt you now. And come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."


There Lucy lay curled up against my side. In this damp cave, she's laid sick for days. It hasn't helped that she has a wound under her left breast that has become infected. But it's not like we can go anywhere. I sent Happy to search for a hospital but he couldn't find one for miles around. Practically everything has been destroyed.

What happened? Grimoire Heart got Zeref and an all-out war started. People without magic evacuated to the other side of Foire. This war was between wizards, dark and light. Against Zeref, not many stood a fighting chance. Even I, the son of the great fire dragon Igneel, backed off.

No, I didn't back off because I was scared. Pfft. Me? Scared? Ha! Ok, maybe of Gildarts and Erza, but nothing else!

I backed down because of Lucy. She was using too much magical energy. If she used any more, her magic would be gone. And like they say, magic power is like a wizards life force.

She had opened most of her gates at once, which was incredible in itself, but then she proceeded to use Urano Metria. Before her spirits knew it, she was falling. I saw her before her spirits did.

I quickly caught her and started running with her in my arms. I couldn't have her laying there on a battlefield completely defenseless. I didn't trust my power enough to protect here _and_ fight back. So I took her away. I aimed for a hospital but every single one in close proximity was in pieces. And Wendy had disappeared a while back to help villagers who hadn't left quick enough.

So I decided to take her across the country to where people had evacuated. Surely there was a hospital or someone who could help her there. It would take a while and Lucy might be better by then, but I wanted to make sure she was ok.

After a while my own power was starting to burn out. Happy had caught up with us and told me the rest of Fairy Tail retreated and is trying to regroup. I just nodded. Since both Happy and I needed to rest, I finally found a cabin far back in the woods where some non-wizard family had apparently once lived. I laid Lucy on the only bed in the house and went to search for medicine and bandages while Happy curled up next to Lucy's head and promptly fell asleep.

Thankfully, there were a ton of bandages in a bathroom drawer. I quickly fixed any injuries I had, then rushed to Lucy's side. I quickly glanced her over for any wounds. I didn't think I'd find any since her spirits protect her with their lives, but, shockingly, I found a cut wound under her chest. It didn't look like a cut from any magical items, so I was thankful, but I still had to fix her up. Her shirt was basically destroyed so I just stripped the rest off, leaving her in her bra.

This didn't faze me at all. Why should it? I've already seen her in nothing but a towel before. I lifted her up slightly and slowly, trying not to hurt or wake her. It was much more difficult than it sounds, but I was finally able to get it wrapped. If there had been medicine or anything to treat the wound before wrapping it, I know it would be better.

I laid her back down and went to explore the house a little. The cabin was small. All it had was a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Who ever lived here before had had a baby. The proof was the cradle in the corner of the bedroom. After looking around he went to the bedroom and opened a dresser drawer. The people who lived here left in a hurry because there were still clothes here. I found a light, dark blue jacket that was about Lucy's size. I brought it over to her still unconscious form and carefully put it on her. I started to turn to leave but a hand caught hold of mine.

I turned and looked back to Lucy. Her eyes were still closed but she looked to be in pain. To say I slightly panicked is an understatement. I finally laid down next to her and pulled her close. My most precious nakama, my Lucy, was hurting and I didn't know what to do. Exhaustion from fighting finally caught up to me and I was out like a light.

When I awoke, it was still dark but my dragon senses told me it was day time. Lucy was still in my arms. Happy was slowly waking up. I decided that I would need to cook something for Luce, Happy, and myself but as I tried to move Lucy a little, she tensed.

"Luce? You're safe right now. Ok? Are you feeling ok?" I asked trying to sooth any pain she might have. She didn't answer. "Luce, I can go get you some food." I started to move again but then she turned her head slightly and I saw tears.

"Please. Please don't let go." Her voice was barely a whisper and sounded absolutely pitiful but thanks to my dragon senses, I heard her.

"I will never let you go, Luce." I hugged her closer to me. She relaxed a little but I still felt the small trimmers that wracked her body because of her sobs.

I hadn't a clue why she was crying, but I do know I held her close and rubbed small circles on her back till she fell back asleep.

Happy who had watched the whole thing and had kept quiet finally spoke, almost as if reading my mind. "Maybe she's acting like this because of her loss of magical power. She used up a whole bunch, Natsu."

I nodded. "Happy, since I'm holding her and am slightly afraid of leaving her, can you go get some berries or catch something to eat? Just don't go too far. K?"

Happy nodded, glanced toward Lucy with a sad expression, and then flew out the door.

I had to move to the living room so I could keep an eye out for Happy in case something bad were to happen. But with Lucy, it was slightly going to be a problem. I leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Hey, Luce, we're going to move. Ok? I won't ever let you go."

She didn't say anything or nod but she did shift slightly so I could get up and pick her up bridal style. When I moved to the living room, I found a dusty old couch and sat down with Luce laying over me.

That's when I heard it. Happy calling my name. He came flying through a broken window. "Natsu! There are dark wizards here! A few started chasing me! We have to leave!"

I had to keep Lucy safe too. Still not having recovered from using so much magic, she was in no condition to run or fight.

I small plan came to my mind. "Hey, Luce. I'm not leaving. I just have something I need to take care of. Ok? Happy is staying here with you. I'll be right back." She nodded slightly. I lifted her up, got up and then laid her back down. "Happy, stay here and protect her no matter what. Don't come to help me. Just stay here with her."

Happy wore a look of determination with slight worry. I smiled real big to let him know I wouldn't lose and then ran outside.

There was no clearing, just a bunch of trees. I realized how important it was to be careful. I didn't want to burn the entire forest down.

My opponents came into view. Four of them. "All of you versus a flying cat? That's silly." I smiled before igniting my fists into flames.

Then the small battle started. I have to give them credit. They were stronger than they looked. One dark wizard was a water mage and kept extinguishing my flames. Another could walk through solid objects and kept attacking me from behind through the trees. The third was fast like Jet and kept getting him while he was distracted. And the last could use shadows and detach from his own shadow, and his shadow could attack my shadow hurting me.

I wasn't loosing, I just wasn't getting many hits. On the other hand, they were. Every time I tried to use my flames, they were extinguished. Every time I tried to attack, I was punched down before I could even hit. I'm not so good at defense. I've only ever known offensive for the most part, so this was slightly hard.

She was out of the house before I ever noticed. The enemy noticed her before I did. I only noticed when I heard a crackling voice yelling, "Urano Metria!" I hoped I was just hearing things. But everything happened in slow motion. I turned toward the voice, saw a blinding light and beautiful golden hair, and then it was gone. A shadow fell over her light and I knew it wasn't good. I was running to her but I wasn't getting there fast enough.

The shadow was killing her. Building up all that magical energy and having nowhere for it to go was destroying her. It was like the Tower of Heaven with Etherion. I used wing slash of the fire dragon unconsciously and hit all four dark mages. The shadow disappeared from Lucy but her light was gone too. I caught her as she fell again and turned to find the mages had run off, probably for more help.

"Happy!" I called. The blue cat came flying out the window, tears flowing. "What happened? Why was she out here? I told you to protect her!"

Happy sniffled. "W-we were watching from the window a-and saw that you weren't doing that w-well. Lucy… she wanted to help. I.. I told her not to because she was still weak but she smiled at me and said 'but what will we do without Natsu?' Natsu, I'm sorry. I know you said protect her and not help you, but she seemed so confident when saying that, even if she could barely walk. It was like I was frozen. I'm so sorry, Natsu!" The little blue cat cried harder. I pulled him up to me and Lucy and hugged them both.

"It's ok, Happy, but we need to get out of here fast. They'll be back soon." Happy nodded and he flew above me scouting ahead as I ran carrying Lucy on my back. There was no way I was letting her use her magic again. I had taken her keys and given them to Happy to put in his sack. I was sure Loki would understand.

That's when we found this cave. It seemed like a good place to rest at first but it was damp and cold. Well, not to me. It's just what Happy said. It's not like there were many other places to go.

I laid her down near the back of the cave and looked her over. Her wound had reopened and was even swelling. I knew that wasn't a good sign. She was also sweating and shivering. At this point I knew something was definitely wrong. I could feel her heat radiating off of her and it was much higher then usual.

I cursed and stood up. "Happy, I'm going to get firewood and some food. I'll be back."

"D-don't," a croaked voice said. "Don't leave me here alone."

I turned back to Lucy. "I'm not leaving you alone. Happy's here. And I'll just be right outside the cave. I'll be right back." I turned and left quickly. I didn't spend much time out. I just got a small thing of firewood and some berries. Surely we wouldn't stay too long.

But we have. We've been in this cave for a while. Lucy hasn't gotten better, just worse. I found some moss and tried redressing her wound but it was far past bad. I keep her warm but there are times I have to move away from her, even if it truly kills me to do so, so that she can cool down some. Her fever hasn't changed. I blame the wound and her stupidly using too much magic.

Most of the times she sleeps but sometimes she'll wake up in a panic yelling something about shadows. I hold her as tremors wrack her body. And every time she does I have to tell her, "Just close your eyes, Luce. The sun is going down. You'll be alright. I'm here. No one can hurt you now. And come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."

She always calms down at this. Happy likes hearing it, too, and I'll hear him say it to himself before he sleeps, willing himself to believe it's true.

Today I realized there's no winning for us right now. I was going to leave the cave to find food and water but as I looked out side, I saw everything on fire. The war kept raging on.

I went back to Happy and Lucy. "Luce, Happy, I need you to listen to me." Happy's big eyes looked up to me and Lucy moaned in response. "Don't you dare look outside. Got it? Happy stay here and don't let her move. I'm going to find help. Surely I can. And I need both of you to do one more thing for me." They stayed silent. "I'm going to sing you a lullaby and I need you to hold on to it in your hearts even after the music is gone."

Happy swallowed. He didn't like this and neither did I.

I closed my eyes and started singing. "_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright; no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."_ (a/n: watch?v=ST_zVeLimbo )

Happy couldn't even open his eyes his tears flowed so hard. Lucy had a small stream of tears going down her own face.

I turned and went to the cave entrance. "I always want to protect Fairy Tail with everything I've got. But, when it comes down to it, you two are the ones I want to protect the most. I would die to protect you two. And Happy already knows it. So, Luce, I want you to know, I love you."

And with that said I left the cave. I ate some of the fire and ran. I will defeat every dark mage and Zeref if I have to, to keep you safe. I will find help. I will keep you safe and sound, Luce. I promise.

**I had to. I just had to. Listen to the Jason Chen cover of Taylor Swift's 'Safe and Sound'.**

_**For the People You Love**_** is coming soon I promise!**


End file.
